Great Customer Experience from Arriva London with the introduction of Route 249

One of Arriva London’s key brand values is ‘Great customer experience - We keep our customers happy every day’. The introduction of all new Hybrid vehicles on route 249, which Arriva London starts operating this Saturday, will underline this value. These vehicles use a combination of an ordinary diesel engine and an electric motor, and reduce emissions of local pollutants and CO2 by thirty percent compared to conventional buses.

General Manager Patrick Sibley

As Patrick Sibley, Arriva London’s General Manager for Norwood and Brixton garages, said:-

“We are really excited that we have the opportunity of running these new buses on route 249, from Clapham Common to Anerley. There are 15 buses needed, including spares, but the peak vehicle requirement is 13 on the route with 45 drivers.

Deputy Engineering Manager Ian Waro

It’s been a very interesting programme bringing this route into service, as we have also been introducing the new Hybrids onto our route 2 at the same time. The combination will mean that by May we will have a total of 42 running out of Norwood”.

Ian carrying out a pre-delivery check

Many of the drivers are new recruits, with 11 drivers joining us from the previous operator. This has meant both ‘type’ training and route learning for everyone.

Ian Waro, the Assistant Engineering Manager for Norwood, said;-

Safety is key

“All the engineers are pleased with the new route and the new buses, as it means more work for us, which is always a good thing. Volvo came to our garage and carried out familiarisation training for the engineers. It’s slightly different to what we’re used to, with electric braking and steering systems. Some of the electrics are 600 volts, so we need to know how to isolate them correctly before we start working. The body has easy access panels, so it’s good to work on. We’re just finishing the pre-delivery checks at the moment before they go into service; all-round, a very nice Hybrid bus.”

If you’d like the opportunity to drive a new Hybrid bus for Arriva London, please go to our careers page and follow the bus driver’s link.

As part of National Apprentice week we will be running three apprentice information sessions on Friday 18th March 2016, at our Edmonton Engineering Training Academy, starting at 10:00, 12:00 and 14:00.

There can’t be a better way of learning about how buses work, than getting on one and asking the drivers. This is precisely what happened this week, when Arriva London were invited to take one of their red single deck buses to Newbury Park Primary School in Ilford.